goodymatt

Interesting to hear from Tony Adams that Ralph called him a couple of years ago when we lost our assistant manager to Bayern.

I understand that he had options to play at a higher level but didn’t want to relocate from the South. Surprising to see him not be the first name on the team sheet at that level. I was impressed enough when he featured in a Saints shirt to be surprised he only got loans to league one and didn’t become a championship level player. Shows how small the margins are in football.

“I know that’s right!” What a guy.

I was at the game last night and thought Lyanco looked composed and calm on the ball in the main, wasn’t all bad and it was his first game in England. Agree with other posters that neither CB had a great game. The worrying thing about Lyanco was that he should have given away 2 goals. First one he was just holding off their player and another came in, stole it, megged Salisu (very poor from Sali too there) and then somehow narrowly missed. Second one an unforced error lead to their equaliser. On both occasions he’s taking unnecessary risks. He’s young and hopefully we can develop him to take those risks at the right time, something that Vestergaard learned eventually after similar moments of being too calm on the ball at the wrong time.

Offside VAR review was after the 90th minute I think so excluded from the initial 5 mins on the board. It would have been horrendous if they had robbed the win in the dying moments.

The offside review by VAR took over 2 mins so I’m guessing this is why 5 became 8. Made for nervous viewing!

He does so many things really well, just that final decision or hesitation that scuppers those big opportunities at the moment and this was a problem last season too. When he was our player of the season he was much more decisive and had that confidence in his decisions. He does seem to show this against lower league opposition in cup games. Just wish he could get that confidence back at the top level. Only thing I know for sure is fans getting in his back is not the solution to get him there. Appreciate he’s had a lot of opportunities to reach that consistent level by now. In the context of yesterday’s game, he may have not picked the right pass on those few occasions but his general play and work against the ball was excellent.

Looks like Sheffield United have started to find some decent form after a disappointing start to their season. Might be a more difficult task than expected. Hoping like others that they will prioritise their league campaign. From a Saints perspective I’d like to see Lyanco start for this one and I’d expect to see Perraud, Broja and Diallo starting too. I very much enjoyed my first live game post Covid this weekend at City and looking forward to going to Sheffield for this one too. Rude not to when living in the north west!

Nice video compilation of Tino’s very impressive start in a Saints shirt. We’ve only seen him play 5 games, but already looks like he’s going to be a top player. £5m is a joke, absolute steal!

I’ve not received mine either, post for today has been and gone. I ordered City away tickets on the same day and they arrived on Wednesday of this week. Saints are leaving it a little later than usual for this one…

Might we see Lyanco in the cup against Sheffield United next week or do we think that’s too soon?

Ralph just confirmed Theo and Stuey still missing. Sounds like Stuey is a couple of weeks away tops. No timeframe on Theo’s return but he said last week it was a minor injury.

Premier League goals for Liverpool - 76 Domestic Cup goals for Liverpool - 2 Euro goals for Liverpool - 21 Total goals for Liverpool - 99

Ralph said in press conference part two that Armstrong won’t have any issues with stepping into Danny Ings’ shoes, he will even be wearing the same number. So Armstrong is our new number 9, as expected.

Barca are still over their La Liga wage cap, so can’t register any of their 4 new signings yet. Even if Messi wanted to play for nothing, they still couldn’t register him. What an absolute mess!

My Albanian mate (his wife is Broja’s cousin) said he smashed it for their U21s but hasn’t really made an impact on their full international team yet in his 6 apps. Adding he lacked confidence in those 6 games. Had a very good loan spell in Holland, but clearly the PL is a big step up. He has lots of potential, hopefully we can see that on the pitch for Saints. Certainly a type of player we don’t have and gives us an alternate option to make a change in games, with Armstrong seemingly more of the Ings style.

Pretty rare tbh. Only David Alaba and Daley Blind come to mind.

Thanks for this. That’s definitely the page I’m on but there’s only an edit profile button in the top right of the profile page. No cover photo option at all, really odd! Desperate to get my Ingsy avatar removed for obvious reasons!

This takes me through to the edit profile section but cover photo isn’t an option? I’m clearly missing something obvious!

On that topic, how do you actually change your profile picture? Doesn't seem to be an option in the edit profile section. I've tried on phone and laptop now.

Fair enough, I didn’t realise there was an option. That optional 4th year would make the difference. Total £4.16m more from their contract if that happens. That’s without any sign on fee or bonuses too. To be fair they are more likely to be pushing towards top 6 with him than we would have been. If only goal line technology was working when it mattered. They have had some fortune to get where there are today.

Perhaps he also had a sizeable sign on fee or associated bonuses? Otherwise the maths do not add up at all do they?

We do seem to struggle when the player shows they are worth extending - Hojbjerg, Vestergaard and Ings all recent examples. Perhaps slightly different with a younger player but if he’s decent we could be forced to sell in 1-2 years.

3 year contract seems a bit on the short side?

Watching some analysis on Perraud it seems he is an excellent switcher of the ball and can play diagonal passes like Vestergaard. I wonder if having this in his locker would negate losing that ball playing ability that Vestergaard clearly has over Salisu. Playing LB, Perraud isn’t going to always be in the best position to do it though. But the better defensive quality and pace of Salisu will also help with the way we play. He’s also only going to get better and needs games. Also having 2x FBs that can get up the pitch and great chances might mean a CB with more pace and 1v1 ability is more important to us than Vestergaard’s ball playing. He’s so slow and when left exposed we struggle. This time last year nobody expected Vestergaard to be a first choice with Stephens and Bednarek ending the season before last so well. Salisu was signed as the improvement. I think it’s time with 1 year left and a good Euros to cash in here and back Salisu. Don’t think it will hurt us overall.